Haha, yeah, I had a mate set it up with the dealer knowing we weren't going to buy it. We just needed to drive one to see what it was like compared with the SP25.

We've upped the budget a bit and have found a decent looking 2010 MPS Gen 2 (so has updated electrics to deal with torque steer, and updated interior like the 2012) that we are going to get a better look at. 60ks but full service history which is squeaky clean. Fingers crossed.

I'm curious as to how the electrics solve a torque steer issue? I thought the only thing that caused torque steer was bad weight distribution/balance.

I don't mind the look of the MPS side on and the tall snout, if under the snout it's full of engine :o) Looks like a fun car to test drive.

I saw someone mention about towing earlier, I wish all cars had Subaru's 20% reduction dual range. That would be much more fun to drive for towing, without the cost of a bigger engine when not towing.

I often miss the fun of keeping busy in a manual. I don't miss a manual when boy racers are showing off though - I like the punch of a left foot brake release in a 6 cyl auto waiting to go and not loosing power for a gear change :o) Hmmmm, blow off valves.... are they sopose to distract a auto driver from the lack of power in a gear change ;o) Can't wait for electric everything, no gears, and all torque or should I say AMPs at low rev's.

Well, we bought a 2010 Mazda 3 MPS the other day. Going to be collecting it in Hamilton on Saturday and driving it around the north before bringing it back to Wellington. Should be a good chance to give the car a bit of a thrashing to see where its weaknesses and strengths lie.

Yeah, I'm not too worried about the police presence. I must one of the few 'car enthusiasts' who's never had a speeding ticket but wholeheartedly support them being there. In any case, there is plenty of thrashing able to be done from 0 to 100 ;)

I've always wondered what advantage people see in sedans. It used to be that the main advantage was not being able to see into the luggage space from outside the vehicle, but that's moot now that all hatchbacks and wagons have some sort of security screen in the luggage space.

To my mind hatchbacks and wagons are more practical and seem to cost the same in most cases. I also don't like the appearance of sedans because I don't think the front-to-rear symmetry works well in a car, but I guess that's just a personal preference - maybe some people have the opposite perception.

In Europe, conservative buyers consider that a sedan is preferable because you cannot access the luggage area by breaking a window. In most (but not all) hatchbacks, you can break the window, open the door, get inside, release the rear seat back, fold it forward and help yourself to the contents of the luggage area.

Those conservative buyers are mostly UK fleet managers and older Germans, Swiss and Austrians. Hence the manufacturers who sell to those customers tend to provide sedans.

I cannot remember any hatches being sold in Europe without some sort of cover for the luggage area but those screens were never seen as providing security.

I understand that, in Latin America, the old rear engined VW Beetle was always highly regarded because of the security of the front luggage area.

I've always wondered what advantage people see in sedans. It used to be that the main advantage was not being able to see into the luggage space from outside the vehicle, but that's moot now that all hatchbacks and wagons have some sort of security screen in the luggage space.

In Europe, conservative buyers consider that a sedan is preferable because you cannot access the luggage area by breaking a window. In most (but not all) hatchbacks, you can break the window, open the door, get inside, release the rear seat back, fold it forward and help yourself to the contents of the luggage area.

Thanks for sharing that - it's a really interesting observation.

With most modern sedans having fold down rear seats I would have thought it would be easy enough to gain entry by breaking a rear passenger window and then folding the seats down to access the luggage space, but I guess these things come down to perception and from what you're saying I can see why a sedan would be perceived to be a lesser theft risk.

My wife and I are looking around at present for some 2010 up wagon or hatch. Was quite interested in the Ford Focus or Fiesta until we started doing some research in NZ (Dog and lemon) and overseas US and Ozz same models. Was put off by lots of comments on bad auto trans at about 10,000Km, oil leaks and no spare wheel (Fiesta.)

As I want this one to last about 10 years we have narrowed it down to a Toyota Corolla or Mazda 3. Mazda 6 would be nice but too expensive.